THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


COSMOS 

By     ERNEST     McGAFFEY 


The      Philosopher      Press 
Wausau      Wisconsin 


TS 
5359 


COPYRIGHTED  1903 
By  ERNEST   McGAFFEY 


DEDICATED  TO 

CARTER  H,  HARRISON 

OF  CHICAGO 


COSMOS 


ONE 

i 

Go  search  the  aeons  an  you  will 
Where  withered  leaves  of  Doubt  are  whirled, 
And  who  hath  solved  this  riddle,  Life, 
Or  Death — that  moves  with  sails  unfurled, 
Beyond  the  straining  eyes  of  man 
Marooned  upon  an  unknown  world. 

n 

Nor  tongue  hath  told,  nor  vision  caught 
That  paradox,  Primeval  Cause; 
Each  age  has  had  some  parable 
Each  age  succeeding  marked  the  flaws; 
While  shifted,  with  the  calendar, 
What  men  have  termed  generic  laws. 

in 

Creed  after  creed  behold  them  now 
Like  Etna  on  Vesuvius  piled; 
Till,  scaled  to  earth  by  drifting  sands 
They  lie  in  later  days  reviled, 
And  pushed  aside  by  Time's  rough  hand 
As  toys  are,  by  a  peevish  child. 


IV 

For  Priest-made  doctrine  reads  grotesque. 
And  earthly  worship  is  but  dross; 
Whether  it  be  your  Brahm  of  Ind 
Or  squat  and  hideous  Chinese  Joss; 
Or  Jove,  aloft  on  cloud-capped  throne 
Or  the  pale  Christ  upon  his  cross. 

*  v 

Why  question  still  the  blindfold  graves 
Or  pluck  the  veil  of  Isis  dread? 
Over  Death's  icy  mystery 
A  pall  immutable  is  spread; 
And  never  tear-wrung  agony 
Shall  move  the  lips  we  loved — once  dead. 

VI 

Why  grope  in  labyrinthian  maze? 
Why  palter  thus  with  doubt  and  fear? 
The  Past  is  but  the  mollusc  print 
The  Future  looms,  a  barrier  sheer; 
The  Present  centers  in  To-day 
The  hope  for  men  is  Now,  and  Here. 

vn 

Believe  no  scientific  cant 
That  man  descended  from  the  ape; 
Gorilla-like  once  beat  his  breast 
And  grew  at  last  to  human  shape, 
To  watch  the  flocks,  and  till  the  fields, 
Harry  the  seas  and  bruise  the  grape. 


Vffl 

For  though  enrobed  in  savage  skins 
And  though  his  forehead  backward  ran, 
The  brute  was  not  all-dominant 
Some  spark  revealed  a  Primal  plan; 
His  brain  was  coupled  with  his  will 
The  hairy  mammal  still  was  man. 

IX 

And  ever  as  the  cycles  waned 
He  came  and  went,  he  rose  and  fell, 
At  times  transformed,  as  butterflies 
That  rise  from  chrysalis  in  the  cell; 
And  oft  through  hate  and  ignorance 
Sunk  downward  deep  as  fabled  Hell. 

x 

But  through  it  all,  and  with  it  all 
How-e'er  the  upward  trending  veers, 
He  fought  his  fight  against  great  odds 
He  peopled  ice-bound  hemispheres, 
Endured  the  sweltering  Torrid  Zones 
And  stamped  his  impress  on  the  years. 


TWO 

i 

What  romance  haft  thy  childhood  known 
Of  God-made  world  in  seven  days? 
Of  woven  sands  and  swaying  grass 
And  bird  and  beast  in  forest  ways, 
Of  panoramas  vast  unrolled 
Before  a  stern  Creator's  gaze? 

ii 

Of  rivers  ribboning  the  vales; 
Of  plains  that  stretched  in  smoothness  down, 
And  unborn  seasons  yet  to  be 
Spring's  violet  banks,  and  Autumn's  brown; 
Bright  Summer,  mistress  of  the  sun, 
And  grey-beard  Winter's  boreal  crown. 

in 

And  when  at  length  the  scheme  complete 
Unfolded  to  the  Maker's  sight, 
How  He,  Almighty  and  divine 
Said  in  his  power,  "Let  there  be  light!™ 
Gave  sun  and  moon,  and  sowed  the  stars 
Along  the  furrows  of  the  night! 


IV 

Lo!  every  nation  has  its  tale 
And  every  people,  how  they  be; 
Whether  where  Southern  zephyrs  loose 
The  blooms  from  off  the  tamarind  tree, 
Or  where  the  six-month  seasons  bide 
Around  the  cloistered  Polar  sea. 

y 

And  Science  with  unyielding  scales 
Weighs  each  and  all  of  varied  styles; 
And  like  a  Goddess  molds  decrees 
Oblivious  both  to  tears  or  smiles; 
Points  out  the  error,  reads  the  rule 
And  God  with  Nature  reconciles. 

VI 

But  who  shall  sift  the  false  and  true? 

What  Oracle  the  rule  enforce? 

Not  man-made  creed,  nor  man-learned  law 

Is  wise  to  fathom  Nature's  course; 

No  sea  is  deeper  than  its  bed 

No  stream  is  higher  than  its  source. 

VII 

Vain  hope  to  solve  the  Infinite! 
Mere  words  to  babble,  when  they  say 
"Thus  Science  teaches,"— "thus  our  Godn- 
Thus  this  or  that — what  of  it,  pray? 
The  marvel  overlapping  all — 
Go  ask  the  Sphynx  of  V esterday. 


Vffl 

We  know  the  All,  and  nothing  know; 
The  great  we  ken  as  well  as  least; 
But  sum  it  all  when  we  have  said 
That  man  is  different  from  the  beast; 
And  spite  of  all  Theology 
The  Pagan's  equal  to  the  Priest. 

IX 

And  globes  will  lapse,  and  suns  expire; 
As  stars  have  fallen,  worlds  can  change; 
Forever  shall  the  centuries  roll 
And  roving  planets  tireless  range; 
And  Life  be  masked  in  secrecy 
With  Death,  as  ever,  passing  strange. 

x 

And  trow  not,  Mortal,  in  thy  pride 
That  where  yon  beetling  column  stands 
Rests  Permanence;  'twill  disappear 
To  sink  in  marsh  or  barren  lands, 
Where  bitterns  boom,  or  sunlight  stares 
Across  the  immemorial  sands. 


THREE 

i 

Of  old  when  man  to  being  came 
He  fashioned  Gods  of  brittle  bone; 
Bowed  down  to  wooden  fetiches 
Or  worshipped  idols  carved  from  stone; 
And,  locked  in  Superstition's  grasp 
For  sacrifice  made  lives  atone. 

ii 

And  Fear  was  then  the  Higher  Law 
And  fleshly  joys  the  aftermath; 
He  knew  no  screed  of  Righteousness 
And  trod  no  straight  and  narrow  path; 
His  Deity  a  terror  was 
A  Demon  winged  with  might  and  wrath. 

•in 

And  then  where  Nilus  dipped  his  feet 
By  Egypt  sands,  rose  temples  tall 
To  Isis  and  Osiris — Ptah — 
And  many  a  God  foredoomed  to  fall; 
Where  sank  the  shades  of  Pharaoh's  reign? 
Whence  have  they  vanished,  one  and  all? 


IV 

But  whiles  to  other  years  advanced 

And  now  by  cosmic  marvels  won, 

Men  sought  remote  Pelagian  shores 

Where  breeze  and  spray  their  tapestry  spun, 

To  wait  the  coming  of  the  day 

And  there  adore  the  rising  sun. 

v 

This  passed;  the  Gods  of  Greece  and  Rome 
In  splendor  thronged  the  earth  and  skies; 
Jove,  with  the  thunders  in  his  hand 
Apollo  of  the  star-lit  eyes, 
Aurora,  Priestess  of  the  Dawn 
And  Pan  of  haunting  melodies, — 

VI 

And  countless  more;  their  temples  fair 
Where  reverent  Pagans  curved  the  knee, 
Mid  sweet,  perpetual  summer  stood 
While  murmured  as  the  murmuring  bee, 
The  lulling  sweep  of  listless  brine 
Beside  the  green  /Egean  sea. 

VII 

And  merged  in  island-wooded  calms 
By  towering  groves  of  ancient  oak, 
Where  Triton's  charging  cavalry 
Against  the  cliffs  of  Britain  broke, 
With  horrid  rite  of  human  blood 
The  Celtic  Druids  moved  and  spoke. 


vm 

Still  wheeled  the  cycles;  still  did  men 
With  new  religions  make  them  wise; 
Mahomet  rose  magnificent 
As  rainbow  in  the  eastern  skies; 
With  Seven  Heavens  of  Koran  taught 
And  Houris  with  the  sloe-black  eyes. 

IX 

Brahm,  Baal,  Dagon,  Moloch,  Thor, 
And  legions  more  had  long  sufficed; 
Heavens  in  turn  with  bliss  diverse 
And  Hells  with  ebon  glaciers  iced; 
And  latest  on  celestial  scrolls 
The  prophets  wrote  the  name  of  Christ. 

x 

We  need  them  not;  No!  each  and  all 
Will  load  Tradition's  dusty  shelf; 
As  shattered  Idols,  put  away 
To  lie  forgot  like  broken  delf; 
Humanity  is  over  all! 
And  Man's  redemption  in  himself. 


FOUR 

i 

The  morning  stars  together  sang 
So  runs  the  story,  in  that  time, 
When  groves  were  loud  with  melody 
And  ripples  danced  to  liquid  rhyme; 
Far  in  the  embryonic  spheres 
Before  the  earth  was  in  her  prime. 

ii 

Then  first  the  feline-padded  gales 
Unleashed  and  prowling  journeyed  free, 
To  purr  amid  the  cowering  grass 
Or  roar  in  stormy  jubilee, 
Or,  joining  in  with  Ocean,  growl 
A  hoarse  duet  of  wind  and  sea. 

in 

And  where  by  meadowy  rushes  dank 
The  yellow  sunbeams  thick  were  sown, 
And  brooks  flowed  down  through  April  ways 
O'er  pebbled  bar  and  shingly  stone, 
There  first  welled  up  in  gurgling  strain 
The  lisping  current's  monotone. 

10 


IV 

And  oft  was  heard,  in  forest  aisles 

Where  rocking  trees  of  leaves  were  thinned, 

And  drear  November  wandered  lorn 

With  wild  wide  eyes  and  hair  unpinned, 

A  wailing  harp  of  minor  chords 

Struck  by  the  strong  hands  of  the  wind. 

y 

And  Man,  through  imitative  art, 
With  clumsy  tool  and  method  crude, 
Copied  these  echoes  as  he  might 
To  soothe  him  in  his  solitude; 
And  when  that  other  sound  was  dumb 
His  reed-notes  quavered  music  rude. 

VI 

And  as  the  gentler  graces  came 
To  vivify  barbaric  night, 
So  Poesy,  with  singing  Lyre, 
Descended  from  Parnassian  height, 
With  constellations  aureoled 
Her  raiment  wove  of  flowing  light. 

VII 

And  in  Man's  heart  a  thrill  leaped  up; 
His  eye  was  lit  by  prophet  gleams; 
He  sought  the  truth  of  When  and  How 
He  voiced  the  lyrics  of  the  streams; 
His  beard  was  tossed,  his  locks  were  gray 
His  soul  beneath  the  spell  of  dreams. 


vin 

Thus  numbers  came;  and  Poets  lived 
To  chant  the  glories  of  the  Race; 
Their  rhyme  on  limp  papyrus  roll 
Or  etched  on  crumbling  pillar's  base, 
Has  long  outlived  the  Kings  they  sung 
And  conquered  even  Time  and  Space. 

IX 

Aye!  vain  the  vaunt  of  Heroes;  vain 

The  deeds  that  once  were  thought  sublime; 

And  vain  your  Monarchs,  briefly  staged 

In  tinselled  royal  pantomime; 

Their  House  was  builded  on  the  sands 

And  they  unworth  a  random  rhyme. 

x 

Vain  are  the  works  of  man;  most  vain 
His  bubbled  Glory,  Aye!  or  Fame; 
More  fragile  than  a  last-year's  leaf 
Unnoticed  of  the  sunset's  flame; 
And  naught  endures  unless  it  stands 
Linked  with  a  deathless  Poet's  name. 


12 


FIVE 

i 

How  flourished  then  the  lesser  arts 
As  man  to  manhood  slowly  grew? 
With  blackened  slick  from  ruddy  fires 
That  on  his  cave  reflections  threw, 
He  scrawled  the  rock  which  sheltered  him 
And  thus  the  first  rude  picture  drew. 

ii 

And  catching  hints  from  Nature's  lore 
He  squeezed  his  colors  from  the  clay; 
Steeped  leaf  and  bark,  and  dyed  the  skins 
That  round  about  his  dwelling  lay; 
And,  urged  by  vanity,  his  cheeks 
Were  daubed  with  dash  of  pigments  gay. 

m 

So,  ever  as  the  seasons  died 
His  mind  expanded  with  his  will; 
He  saw  the  dry  leaves  touched  with  gold 
And  grass  grow  tawny  on  the  hill; 
Found  etchings  on  the  ruffled  streams 
And  marked  the  sunset's  hectic  thrill. 

13 


rv 

And  dreaming  thus,  with  defter  skill 
He  fast  employed  his  nights  and  days, 
Spun  magic  webs  of  chequered  lights 
And  limned  October's  purple  haze; 
While  women's  faces  from  his  brush 
Fired,  like  wine,  the  se'er's  gaze. 

x 

V 

Until  at  last  was  handed  down 
Beyond  the  treasure-trove  of  Greece, 
Beyond  the  strain  that  Sappho  sung 
And  reveries  of  the  Golden  Fleece, 
The  art  of  Titian,  Rubens,  Thai, 
And  Tintoretto's  masterpiece. 

VI 

Thus,  too,  as  man  with  curious  eye 
Had  noted  outline,  curve,  and  form, 
In  toppling  surge  or  lofty  crag 
In  woman's  bosom  beating  warm, 
In  cloudy  shapes  revealed  on  high 
Intaglios  of  the  wind  and  storm, — 

vn 

He  modelled  from  the  plastic  loam; 
On  shell  and  boulder  graved  a  sign; 
Chiselled  the  stately  obelisks 
With  hieroglyphics,  line  on  line; 
Colossal  wrought  his  haughty  Kings 
Or  metal-traced  the  clambering  vine. 

14 


vm 

And  many  an  image  was  his  work 
And  many  a  statuette  and  bust; 
Some  that  remain,  but  most  that  lie 
As  shards  to  outer  darkness  thrust; 
These  buried  under  coral  sands 
Those  cloaked  beneath  forgotten  dust. 

K 

Upon  the  lonely  wastes  that  stretch 
Where  the  Egyptian  rivers  croon, 
And  floats  above  the  Pyramids 
On  tropic  nights  the  lifeless  moon, 
The  mightiest  waits, — the  brooding  Sphynx- 
Half-lion  and  half  Daemon  hewn. 

x 

So  Sculpture,  pierced  in  mountain  sides 
Or  dragged  from  Mythologic  seas, 
Still  holds  a  sway;  and  worlds  will  bow 
In  homage  yet  to  such  as  these — 
The  noble  bronze  by  Phidias  wrought, 
The  marbles  of  Praxiteles. 


15 


SIX 

I 

To  those  who  for  their  country  bleed 
To  those  who  die  for  freedom's  sake, 
All  Hail!  for  them  the  Immortal  dawns 
In  waves  of  lilied  silver  break; 
For  them  in  dusky-templed  night 
The  eternal  stars  a  halo  make. 

ii 

In  History's  tome  their  chronicle 
An  ever-living  page  shall  be; 
The  souls  who  flashed  like  sabers  drawn 
The  men  who  died  to  make  men  free; 
Their  flag  in  every  land  has  flown 
Their  sails  have  whitened  every  sea. 

in 

On  gallows  high  they  met  their  doom 
Or  breasted  straight  the  serried  spears 
Of  Tyranny;  in  dungeons  damp 
Scarred  on  the  stones  their  name  appears; 
For  them  the  flower  of  Memory 
Shall  blossom,  watered  by  our  tears. 

16 


IV 

But  Conquest,  Glory,  transient  Fame, 
What  baubles  these  to  struggle  for, 
When  draped  in  sulphurous  films  uprise 
The  cannon-throated  fiends  of  War! 
What  childish  trumpery  cheap  as  this — 
The  trophies  of  a  Conqueror? 

v 

How  many  an  army  marches  forth 
With  bugle-note  or  battle-hymn, 
To  drench  the  soil  in  human  gore 
And  multiply  Golgothas  grim; 
And  all  for  what?  a  Ruler's  pique 
Religion's  call,  or  Harlot's  whim. 

VI 

And  ghastliest  far  among  them  all 
Where  torn  and  stained  the  thirsty  sod 
With  carnage  reeks — where  standards  fly, 
And  horses  gallop,  iron-shod, 
Are  those  remorseless  mockeries 
The  wars  they  wage  in  name  of  God. 

VII 

Vague,  dim  and  vague,  and  noiselessly, 
The  Warrior's  triumphs  fade  like  haze; 
And  building  winds  have  heaped  the  sands 
O'er  monuments  of  martial  days; 
While  Legend  throws  a  flickering  gleam 
Where  the  tall  Trojan  towers  blaze. 

17 


vra 

Yea!  whether  sought  for  Woman's  face 
Or,  Conquest-seeking,  seaward  poured, 
Or  at  the  beck  of  Holy  Church 
War  still  shall  be  the  thing  abhorred; 
And  they  who  by  the  sword  would  live 
Shall  surely  perish  by  the  sword. 

IX 

Yet  whether  at  Thermopylae 
Where  battled  the  intrepid  Greek, 
Or  Waterloo— their  quarry  still 
The  red-eyed  ravening  vultures  seek; 
Where  prowl  the  jackal  and  the  fox 
And  the  swart  raven  whets  his  beak. 

x 

And  somewhere,  though  by  Alien  seas 
The  tide  of  Hate  unceasing  frets; 
For  dawn  to  dusk,  and  dusk  to  dawn 
The  red  sun  rises,  no,  nor  sets, 
Save  where  the  wraith  of  War  is  seen 
Above  her  glittering  bayonets. 


18 


SEVEN 
i 

How  fared  the  body  when  the  soul 
In  olden  days  had  taken  flight? 
Had  passed  as  through  a  shutter  slips 
A  trembling  shaft  of  summer  light! 
And  all  that  once  was  Life's  warm  glow 
Had  sudden  changed  to  dreadful  night! 

ii 

How  fared  the  mourners;  how  the  Priest; 
How  spoken  his  funereal  theme? 
What  dirges  for  the  Heroic  dead 
What  flowers  to  soften  death's  extreme? 
Was  Life  to  them  a  wayside  Inn 
Death  the  beginning  of  a  dream? 

in 

We  cannot  know;  except  by  tales 
Caught  in  the  traveller's  flying  loom, 
Or  carven  granite  friezes  found 
Or  parchment  penned  in  convent  gloom; 
Or  here  and  there,  defying  Time 
Some  long-dead  Emperor's  giant  tomb. 

19 


IV 

Where  tower  the  steep  Egyptian  cones 
By  couriers  of  the  storm  bestrid, 
Wrapped  in  his  blackening  cerements 
Sahura  lies  in  shadow  hid, 
While  billowy  sand-curves  rise  and  dash 
Like  surf,  against  his  Pyramid. 

v 

And  on  the  bald  Norweyan  shores 
When  Odin  for  the  Viking  came, 
A  ship  was  launched,  and  on  it  placed 
With  solemn  slate,  the  Hero's  frame; 
The  torch  applied,  and  sent  to  sea, 
A  double  burial, — wave  and  flame. 

VI 

And  when  the  Hindu  Prince  lay  prone- 
In  final  consecration  dire 
His  Hindu  Princess  followed  on 
And  climbed  the  blazing  funeral  pyre, 
To  stand  in  living  sacrifice 
Transfigured  in  her  robes  of  fire. 

VII 

Where  the  red  Indian  of  the  Plains 
To  the  Great  Spirit  bowed  his  head, 
On  pole-built  scaffold,  Eagle-plumed, 
The  painted  warrior  laid  his  dead; 
Beneath,  the  favorite  charger  slain 
And  by  the  Chief  his  weapons  spread. 

20 


vm 

We  clothe  our  dead  in  modish  dress 
Dust  unto  dust  the  Preacher  saith, 
The  church-bells  toll,  the  organ  peals, 
And  mourners  wait  with  ebbing  breath; 
Oh!  grave,  this  is  thy  mockery, 
The  weird  farce-comedy  of  Death. 

pc 

Nay!  burn  the  shell  with  simplest  rites; 
Scatter  its  ashes  to  the  skies; 
And  on  the  stairways  of  the  clouds 
In  winding  spirals  let  it  rise; 
What  needs  the  soul  of  mortal  garb 
Whether  in  Hell  or  Paradise? 

x 

Aye!  lost  and  gone;  what  cares  the  corse 
When  Death  unfolds  his  sable  wings, 
Whether  it  rest  in  wind-swept  tree 
Or  where  the  deep-sea  echo  rings? 
Be  laid  to  sleep  in  Potter's  Field 
Or  lone  lona's  cairn  of  Kings? 


21 


EIGHT 

i 

Above  unsightly  city  roofs 
Where  smoky  serpents  trail  the  sky, 
Broods  Commerce;  in  her  factories 
A  million  clacking  shuttles  fly; 
Where,  choked  with  lint,  in  sickly  air 
The  little  children  droop  and  die. 

ii 

The  rattling  clash  of  jarring  wheels 
Against  the  windows  echoing  beats; 
And  when  the  pallid  gas-jets  flare 
Where  sombre  night  with  twilight  meets, 
Like  flotsam  on  the  stream  of  Fate 
The  toiler's  myriads  crowd  the  streets. 

in 

With  hiving  tumult  to  and  fro 
Trade's  devotees,  a  hurrying  mass, 
Through  the  long  corridor  of  years 
In  due  procession  rise  and  pass; 
To  earn  their  wage,  to  seek  their  goal 
And  melt,  like  dew-drops  on  the  grass. 

22 


IV 

And  here,  within  the  age  of  Gain 
Our  forest-mailed  harbors  shine 
With  shimmering  fleets;  and  we  go  on 
To  climes  afar  of  palm  and  vine, 
And  in  the  warp  of  Traffic  weave 
A  sinister  and  base  design, 

v 

Of  mild  and  hapless  Islanders 
Who  fall  before  our  soldiers'  aim; 
Of  broken  faith — of  sophistries — 
Of  sin,  of  blood-shed,  and  of  shame; 
Oh!  Commerce,  Commerce,  who  shall  tell 
The  crimes  committed  in  thy  name. 

VI 

Turn,  turn  my  Fancy,  inland  borne 
Where  Nature's  solace  shall  not  fail 
To  ease  the  heart;  view  skyey  seas 
Where  cloud  armadas,  sail  on  sail, 
Manned  by  the  winds  go  warping  down 
Below  the  far  horizon's  trail. 

vn 

And  as  the  budding  willows  blow 
When  March  comes  whirling  past  the  lanes, 
With  bird-note  wild,  and  fifing  winds 
And  undertone  of  sibilant  rains, 
On  slopes  where  Winter's  garment  melts 
Blue  as  the  sea  are  violet  stains. 

23 


vm 

Where  cattle  seek  the  shaded  pools 
And  silence  folds  the  sun-burned  lands, 
Her  auburn  tresses  backward  flung 
Mid-Summer,  like  to  Ceres  stands, 
Beside  the  fields  of  waving  grain 
With  harvest-apples  in  her  hands. 

IX 

And  stealthily  through  winnowing  dusk 
I  see  the  curling  smoke  ascend, 
Where  lie  the  farms;  and  evermore 
Where  hope,  and  health,  and  manhood  blend; 
While  stubble  shorn  and  pastures  bare 
Proclaim  the  waning  season's  end. 

x 

And  as  beyond  the  naked  hills 
The  chill  November  sunset  dies, 
And  cloudward  now  a  phalanx  swims 
Where  guttural  honking  fills  the  skies, 
Black-sculptured  on  approaching  night 
And  southward  bound,  the  wild-goose  flies. 


24 


NINE 

i 

Behold  the  kindred  human  types 
Tribe,  Sept,  and  class,  Race,  Caste,  and  Clan; 
Red,  Black  and  Yellow;  White  and  Brown; 
Processions  of  Primordial  Man 
That  wax  apace,  and  stream  across 
In  one  unending  caravan. 

n 

The  Fisher-People  with  their  shells 
And  dwellers  of  the  Age  of  Stone; 
The  Kirghiz  of  the  Western  Steppes 
The  Greek,  the  Turk,  the  Mongol  shown, 
The  Goth,  the  Frank, — I  see  them  pass 
Like  flash-lights  by  a  mirror  thrown. 

in 

So,  too,  the  Arab,  burnoose  clad 
Who  braves  the  stifling  Simoon  dry, 
Adrift  upon  Saharan  tides 
His  awkward  camels  lurching  high, 
Long,  lank,  uncouth,  but  staunch  as  Death, 
Ships  of  the  Desert,  sailing  by. 

25 


IV 

Note  the  Caucasian  in  his  pride 
Who  prates  of  moldy  pedigrees; 
A  mushroom  he,  compared  in  Eld 
To  the  impassive,  sly  Chinese; 
Their  records  co-extant  with  Time 
And  swarming  by  the  sundown  seas. 

v 

Each  comes  and  goes;  as  came  and  went 
Rameses'  millions;  in  their  day 
What  boast  was  made  of  Egypt's  Kings 
How  God-like  seemed  their  valorous  play; 
But  cynic  years  dispersed  their  line 
Swift  hurried  with  the  winds  away. 

VI 

Aye!  even  as  motes  they  had  their  grace 
For  a  brief  moment,  son  and  sire; 
Then  passed;  as  foam  that  sinks  at  sea 
Or  chords  which  flee  the  Minstrel's  lyre; 
Where  rot  the  walls  by  Sidon  raised? 
And  where  the  long-lost  hulls  of  Tyre? 

VII 

And  all  men  listen  in  their  turn 

To  the  same  Sirens;  greed  of  Gain — 

Love — Hate — Revenge — the  lust  of  Power- 

And  craze  o'er  fellow-man  to  reign — 

Ambition's  lure — these  intertwine 

Like  links  that  form  an  endless  chain. 

26 


vra 

Since  Power  is  but  the  instant's  clutch 
And  naught  so  trivial  as  a  Name, 
What  crucial  proof  shall  fix  men's  worth 
On  lasting  tablets  write  their  claim; 
So  that  their  memories  may  fill 
A  niche  within  the  walls  of  Fame? 

DC 

The  test  is  not  of  Birth  nor  Race 
Since  each  is  worthy  of  his  hire; 
It  rests  in  what  men  do  for  men 
Uplifted  by  the  soul's  desire, 
To  tread.  Life's  fiery  furnaces 
And  save  their  brothers  from  the  fire. 

x 

And  ranging  far  and  searching  deep 
However  though  the  annals  be, 
We  find  but  one  nigh  faultless  man 
There  was  none  other  such  as  He; 
The  Jew  who  taught  and  practiced  Love 
The  man  who  walked  by  Galilee. 


27 


TEN 

i 

Enough  my  Muse;  thy  message  cast 
As  stone  from  out  a  sling  is  hurled, 
Let  drop  to  night;  or  re-appear 
Where  morning's  gathering  grey  is  pearled, 
And  the  bent  sun,  like  Sisyphus, 
Toils  laboring  up  the  underworld. 

ii 

Let  be;  thy  wisdom  knoweth  well 
The  just  degrees  of  right  and  wrong; 
Although  mayhap  unmarked  by  men 
Shall  fall  the  echoes  of  thy  song; 
Unheeded  by  the  pilgrim  years 
Unrecked  of,  by  the  heedless  throng. 

in 

And  yet  before  the  highways  part 
And  thou  and  I  in  darkness  dwell, 
Do  thou  thy  swiftest  Herald  send 
And  this  as  final  warning  tell; 
1  Banish  all  hope  of  gilded  Heaven 
And  laugh  to  scorn  the  fires  of  Hell ' . 

28 


rv 

Phantasmal  dance  those  dual  sprites 
Mere  witch-craft  mummeries  of  the  brain; 
The  lying  sorcery  of  the  Priests 
A  worldly  influence  to  retain; 
Where  shalt  thou  go?  What  quest  is  thine? 
Where  falls  the  single  drop  of  rain? 

v 

But  Courage,  Faith,  and  Constancy, 
The  cardinal  virtues  as  I  deem, 
May  well  be  worshipped,  as  indeed 
The  lilies  of  the  soul  they  seem; 
Undying  in  their  fragrance  rare 
And  glassed  upon  a  sacred  stream. 

VI 

Know  thou,  the  Ideal  Harmony 
That  fills  all  space,  below,  above, 
Is  not  in  Creed,  nor  Form,  nor  Rite 
Nor  in  those  things  thou  dreamest  of; 
But  holds  within  its  breadth  and  scope 
The  sole  and  only  note  of  Love. 

vn 

Reject  all  Creeds;  and  yet  in  each 
Seek  such  material  as  thou*  can, 
With  here  a  tenet,  there  a  thought 
Whether  it  sprang  from  Christ  or  Pan; 
And  make  the  key-stone  of  thy  arch 
The  common  brotherhood  of  Man. 

29 


Vffl 

And  Striving  thus,  a  happier  creed 
In  time  to  come  shall  burst  its  bud, 
The  pure  air  cleared  of  battle-smoke 
And  war  no  more  by  field  and  flood; 
Where  men  can  lift  up  guiltless  hands 
Uncrimsoned  by  a  brother's  blood. 

re 

When  nevermore  in  calm  or  storm 
Shall  hawk-like  hover  on  the  seas, 
The  canvas  of  opposing  ships 
Their  pennants  floating  to  the  breeze; 
And  golden  hopes  will  supersede 
The  apples  of  Hesperides. 

x 

When  man-emancipated  man 
Through  loftier  purpose  wins  control; 
With   Justice  as  his  only  God 
To  reign  supreme  o'er  heart  and  soul; 
And  Love,  sun-like,  illuminates 
The  one,  the  true,  the  perfect  whole. 


30 


NOTES  TO  COSMOS 


Notes  to  Cosmos 

Certain  stanzas  once  intended  for  the 
original  are  here  given.  They  are  set  down 
according  to  the  chapters  in  which  they  were 
to  have  appeared. 

y>  Chapter  Two 

Of  trees  that  stirred  in  early  Spring 
The  slow  sap  moving  in  their  veins; 
Of  flowers  that  dyed  the  woodland  slopes 
The  primrose  pale,  and  daisy-chains; 
Sun-kissed  betimes,  or  overmourned 
By  shimmery  tears  of  sobbing  rains. 

Chapter  Four 

And  all  night  long  the  restless  sea 
Agaist  its  barriers  rose  and  fell, 
Till  grey-eyed  Dawn,  by  lonely  sands 
Saw  flash  and  fade  the  last  broad  swell, 
Before  her  there  the  ebb-tide's  gleam 
And  at  her  feet  a  murmuring  shell. 


And  then  were  heard  the  Elder  Bards 
In  full,  Prophetic  tone  sublime, 
Their  eyes  ablaze  with  ecslacy 
And  on  their  lips  the  living  rhyme; 
King-honored  in  an  age  of  Kings 
And  on  their  beards  the  frosts  of  Time. 

Chapter  Eight 

And  when  a-down  the  bare  brown  lanes 
Pattered  the  swift,  white  feet  of  Spring, 
I  saw  the  velvet-golden  flash 
That  marked  the  yellow-hammer's  wing 
A-curve  on  high;  and  later  heard 
The  robin,  and  the  blue-bird  sing. 

Far  seaward  on  unnumbered  isles 
Mid  scent  of  spice  and  drowsy  balm, 
The  lotos-eating  Islanders 
Lay  soothed  to  sleep  by  utter  calm; 
Low  at  their  feet  the  pulsing  tides 
And  o'er  their  heads  the  tufted  palm. 

Chapter  Nine 

Stark  warriors  of  the  Age  of  Stone 
With  pristine  valor  all  elate, 
Who  sought  and  slew  the  great  Cave  Bear 
And  robbed  the  tigress  of  her  mate; 
And,  weaponed  with  the  ax  and  spear, 
Defied  the  towering  mammoth's  hate. 


And  slant-eyed  Mongols,  yellow-skinned, 
Who  traversed  Western  Steppes  afar, 
Drank  mare's  milk,  and  observed  their  flocks 
White-clustered  'neath  the  Morning  Star; 
Or,  sallying  forth  with  lance  and  bow 
Engaged  in  fierce  Nomadic  war. 

On  vine-clad  hills  was  found  the  Gaul; 
Above  him  glistened  Alpine  snows: 
And  lower  down  where  valleys  lay 
Loved  of  the  lily  and  the  rose, 
By  moon-light  tranced,  the  nightingale 
Sang  silvery-sweet  adagios. 


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